Who needs Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, and when?

General information, not tax advice. Not affiliated with HMRC. Every figure below is linked to the gov.uk page it comes from. Check with HMRC or a qualified accountant about your own situation.

Making Tax Digital (MTD) for Income Tax changes how many sole traders and landlords report to HMRC. Instead of one tax return a year, you keep digital records, send quarterly updates and then file your return through compatible software. This guide explains who it applies to and from when.

The three conditions

According to HMRC, you need to use MTD for Income Tax if all of these are true (gov.uk):

• you are a sole trader or landlord registered for Self Assessment
• you have income from self-employment, property, or both
• your qualifying income is over the threshold for the relevant tax year

The thresholds and start dates

When you start depends on your qualifying income in an earlier tax year (gov.uk):

If you were in the first group and have not signed up yet, gov.uk says you can still do so (gov.uk). Partnerships will be brought in later, but HMRC has not published a date (gov.uk).

What counts as qualifying income

Qualifying income is the total of your self-employment and property income before expenses (your turnover), based on the tax return you sent for the previous tax year (gov.uk). If you have several businesses or properties, add them together.

HMRC's own example: £25,000 of rent plus £27,000 of self-employment income gives qualifying income of £52,000 (gov.uk).

Some income does not count, including employment (PAYE) pay, your profit share as a partner in a partnership, dividends, the State Pension and private pensions (gov.uk). You may still need MTD if you also have self-employment or property income.

New or short accounting periods

If you are a sole trader whose accounting period is shorter or longer than 12 months, HMRC will scale your income up or down to a full year where it has the information. For example, six months of trading is doubled (gov.uk). Landlords have to do this scaling themselves (gov.uk).

If you stopped trading or letting

If one source has stopped but another continues, the ended source still counts towards qualifying income (gov.uk). If all your self-employment and property income stopped before 6 April 2026, you will not need MTD, but you should tell HMRC. Otherwise it may sign you up using the information it holds (gov.uk).

Joint property

If you own a rental property with someone else, only your share of the income counts. In HMRC's example, a property bringing in £50,000, split equally between two siblings, gives each of them qualifying income of £25,000 (gov.uk). If you only find out your share after expenses have been taken off, HMRC will use that figure (gov.uk).

Exemptions

Some people are exempt. Some exemptions are automatic, and you have to apply for others (gov.uk). Examples from gov.uk:

• qualifying income of £20,000 or less is an automatic exemption (gov.uk)
• not having a National Insurance number before the tax year starts (gov.uk)
• being "digitally excluded", for example because age, health, disability, religious beliefs or location make using software unreasonable. You have to apply for this one (gov.uk)

HMRC says it will not accept an application based only on reasons such as having filed on paper before, being unfamiliar with software, or the extra time or cost involved (gov.uk). Other exemptions apply in certain cases. Some of them last only until April 2027, for example for people claiming averaging relief or qualifying care relief, or filing the SA109 residence pages (gov.uk). If you are exempt, you still send a normal Self Assessment return (gov.uk).

How HMRC tells you

Each year HMRC reviews your Self Assessment return. If your qualifying income is over the threshold, it writes to you saying you need to start MTD by the beginning of the next tax year (gov.uk). If no letter arrives, it is still your responsibility to check (gov.uk).

From September 2026, HMRC began signing up people who needed MTD for 2026 to 2027 but had not signed themselves up (gov.uk). Signing up yourself lets you check that your income sources and details are correct (gov.uk). To sign up you must be registered for Self Assessment and have sent a tax return in the last 2 years (gov.uk).

If you think HMRC has got it wrong, gov.uk says to contact HMRC (gov.uk).

Next steps

• Work out your qualifying income using your last tax return.
• Check whether an exemption applies.
• Choose software (see our software guide) and learn the quarterly deadlines.

More guides

• Quarterly deadlines
• MTD for landlords
• MTD software

Sources

• Find out if and when you need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, https://www.gov.uk/guidance/check-if-youre-eligible-for-making-tax-digital-for-income-tax (checked 5 Nov 2026)
• Work out your qualifying income for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, https://www.gov.uk/guidance/work-out-your-qualifying-income-for-making-tax-digital-for-income-tax (checked 5 Nov 2026)
• Find out if you can get an exemption from Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, https://www.gov.uk/guidance/find-out-if-you-can-get-an-exemption-from-making-tax-digital-for-income-tax (checked 5 Nov 2026)
• Sign up for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, https://www.gov.uk/guidance/sign-up-your-business-for-making-tax-digital-for-income-tax (checked 5 Nov 2026)

Last checked against gov.uk: 5 November 2026.

Related: £30k from April 2027 · £20k from April 2028 · Qualifying income examples · Embed the checker